Chapter 1

My name is Blaze Alphon, and this is the world that I once knew.

2030. It was a hard time to be something, at least something other than a cog in a great, globalized machine. I’d wake up, walk to the office, check out my email, and work. It was a dreary 9-to-5 life, but it paid the bills and funded my hobbies. More importantly, it was safe, far away from the Federation War even during its bloody peak. I firmly believed that work will never be my life, but was instead a means with which to live and enjoy myself.

“Alphon. Hey. Dude. BLAZE.” A couple finger snaps brought me out of my usual work reverie. It was a slow day - which was a given,as we just finished wrapping up our latest project. I looked up and threw a small smile at my co-worker. “Hey Bertram. What’s up?”

He put an arm on the edge of my cubicle and adjusted his shirt with his other hand. He was on the tall end of being short, but he carried himself with an obvious confidence. “It’s Friday again, man. Office is holding a little party. Wanna come?”

I spun around on my chair to face him and simply shook my head. “You already know the answer to that.”

“Oh, come on man, you never join us. What happened to you? You were heavy on the parties in college!” He grabbed the chair from the empty cubicle facing mine and sat down, the backrest facing forwards. “We’ll get blitzed, sing songs, maybe play beer pong or some shit.”

I just sighed and turned back to my PC. “Thanks for the offer, Bert, but I already have something scheduled tonight.”

“Bro, you have something scheduled every night.”

“Exactly,” I said with a laugh. I logged out of my workstation - 5 PM on the dot, not a second longer - and started packing up my things as Bertram just watched in silence. My cubicle was all the way at the end of the 4th floor, as far away from the noisy part of the office as possible - not far enough to drown out the cheers coming from the other end of the floor, but at least no one bothered me.

Except Bertram, obviously. “Man, you’re no fun. Not that I’d ever stop bugging you every week about this, but still.” He stood up and returned the chair, taking a moment to adjust his hair with the mirror inside the cubicle. “...y’know, Laura hasn’t been in the office for five days.”

I actually stopped packing and looked at the empty cubicle. He was right, of course, but I never really brought it up - with good reason. “Maybe she’s sick, man.”

My friend shook his head. “I doubt it. She’s never had a single incident like this in her two years here at Green Logistics. Perfect record like that, being shattered out of nowhere?” He took his eyes away from the mirror, brows furrowed and arms crossed. “Makes no sense.”

Yet it did, at least for me. Normally I’d keep my mouth shut about what I knew, but I trusted Bertram enough. I got a little closer to him and whispered, “Maybe the Disappearance is real.”

He raised his eyebrow - whether in doubt or interest, I didn’t know. “You cannot be serious.”

“Oh, but I am. You know me.”

“I know of your tendencies to pick up random conspiracies on the Internet.”

I scoffed. “They are not random. And they’re definitely not conspiracies.”

“Government-backed hardware backdoors?”

“There’s a reason all the big tech companies are owned by former politicians.”

“Nanotech being the next big thing, from out of nowhere?”

“Dude, that one’s legit.” I tugged at his yellow shirt, which rippled and darkened a bit where I grabbed it, before solidifying into a nice, blue hue.

“Okay, fine. But what about the secret society business? The one with the pentagrams and shit?”

“THAT WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL.”

Bertram laughed. “Look, man, I’m dead serious about this one. You’re aware of the incidents from the frontline of the Federation War, right? Soldiers just up and vanishing one day?”

He stopped laughing and looked me dead in the eye. “Fine. Let’s say this Disappearance is real. Then we’d have people with big-ass tattoos running around, right? And what about families with missing members? They’d definitely be panicking if one of their loved ones just went poof.”

I did not trust anyone enough to give my answer to any of those questions. “Okay, that’s fair,” I instead lied. “I cede the point. Maybe ask HR to contact her instead? Or one of her friends?”

Bertram swiped his hand from a yellow area of his shirt to the blue spot I made earlier. It changed back to the same shade of yellow after a few seconds. Then he gave me a firm hand on my shoulder, saying, “Yeah, maybe I should. You enjoy your weekend, Blaze.” He walked away, muttering softly with his arms still crossed.

I took a deep breath before grabbing my bag and slinging it over my shoulder.

“Look, all I’m saying is that the Knight should maybe move the boss over the quicksand trap I laid down for a bit of extra damage,” our resident Shinobi Exeter ranted.

The Knight, our guild leader Eton, just chuckled. “Look, Exe, if all you want is a good parse, we can just do Prototype Alpha instead. Heard melee classes do really well there.”

“Yeah, really well at dying,” I said. My fellow spellcaster, Ice, laughed. “Though if we’re talking about parses, I’m def down. I got a few new tricks up my sleeve that I think should beat a certain Warlock’s numbers…”

“In your dreams, you shitty Wizard,” Ice replied. The entire group laughed at that one - except for Exeter, who was still probably fuming over Eton refusing to waste time with her traps. “Besides, even if I DO lose the parse, I’m an entire accessory set behind the spellcaster BiS this patch.”

“Maybe that’s why Blaze is so eager!” jeered White Flower, a Saint and one of our healers. “Oops. Sorry Rox - was busy with my damage rotation.” She tossed out a revive spell to our other healer, an Alchemist named Roxxi. Solo healing drew too much aggro, so the mobs ganged up on her after a while.

“Thank you, Wif. Please don’t do that again,” she said in her usual shy voice.

“Oh, GODDAMNIT! I am so sorry you guys, I forgot you can fall off this boss’ stage. Crap,” interrupted Rex, our Spearman. After a short pause, the rest of us could no longer hold it in. Roxxi gave Rex a rez even as we flooded the chat room with our laughter.

“Swap it, Zure!,” instructed Eton to our other tank, a Berserker. Zure took over barking out instructions as he casted Taunt. “Rox, cleanse Eton of that debuff. Wif, put up a shield please. Blaze, what’s the pattern of this guy after Taunt again?”

“Taunt as he’s casting a buster, then pop a defensive cooldown. Then turn him to the right as a pillar comes in-”, Exeter and Rex repositioned as the pillar dropped, “-and stay in place without attacking until he destroys it. Then do it three more times clockwise. The melee guys use their buffs after the second pillar is destroyed.”

The boss was a breeze, dismantled like clockwork. We were a well-oiled machine, tempered for three years in the fires of this game’s hardest raids and bosses. Last Thoughts was a big part of my life. This was the reason I’d rush home after work almost no matter what, and why my nights were always spent at my apartment. And it was all thanks to meeting Ice and having an argument about damage with her.

That girl was… interesting, to say the least. She was the quiet type, so every time she spoke she was either roasting someone or making a point she really needed to get across. That meant people were liable to listen to her, even complete strangers. I once asked why she didn’t play as a tank or a healer, where her ability would have the most impact. “Leading - not my style,” she said back then “You, though…”

With the boss dead and the loot distributed, our raid leader made an announcement. “Good job as usual everyone!”

“Yeah, thanks guys. Gotta go now!”, said Zure. He was usually the first to go online and offline, funnily enough. “Cya, Zure,” said several voices at once.

“I’ll be at the usual, you guys. A little tired after today, and I need to do some research on something,” I said.

“Another one of your conspiracies, Blaze?” Exe teased.

“A particular one, yes. And after work today, I’m now reasonably confident it isn’t just a conspiracy.”

“Really? What happened?” asked Eton.

“One of my co-workers hasn’t been to work in a week. And she’s one of those prim and proper types - never been absent, let alone late for work.” I clicked the teleport button to go to my usual AFK spot in one of the game’s fields.

“Well bud, for what it’s worth - things have been a little weird in my country the past few days,” Rex chimed in. He was the youngest in our little group, as far as we’re aware.

A message popped up on my chat box as I got settled under a giant tree.

R. Pavisi: ⌜Where you from again, if I may ask?⌟

Being as shy as she was, Roxxi preferred typing over talking when the group was just hanging out. She didn’t even talk at all at first, but thankfully White Flower helped her along a little. “South Afland,” Rex replied. “So anyway - you know there’s been buildup near the border with Zulu, right?”

“When has there ever not been buildup anywhere in the Aftland continent, man?” White Flower asked.

Rex sighed audibly. “Fair point, Wif, but there’s something different this time around.” Curious, I tabbed out to check out the info myself. “You guys know I work near the border, so I’ve been aware of troop movements up north ever since Zulu entered the war. The SOM sends in two trucks full of soldiers, escorted by a tank every day at 7 AM, on the dot.”

“At around 7:30 AM, another pair of trucks escorted by another tank pass by the road - this was the previous shift. This happens again at 7 PM, then 7:30 PM.”

“Jesus, you stay at work for 12 hours a day?” I blurted out.

“Yes, I do, Blaze,” Rex said flatly. “That’s not the point. 6 days ago, the vehicles and soldiers from the previous shift didn’t return. The army kept sending personnel every 12 hours, though, but this time they stayed at the border.”

Ice whistled. “Sounds like trouble.”

“That’s not the worst part. 2 days ago, our office was ordered to close down - by the military itself. I kinda got the memo late… which is why I know that they sent an entire battalion of tanks and other vehicles through our district that day.”

“Did they want to keep that a secret or something?” I asked, “because it’s all over the net. There’s a post here with a recording of the mobilization. Oops, was.”

“Was?” Eton asked, with an obvious hint of curiosity.

Exe laughed nervously. “Guess they don’t want anyone finding out after all, eh?”

“Wait, Rex,” began Wif, “if they’re making an effort to keep this thing hidden, how did you…?”

“They didn’t actually bother checking the buildings for people. I just hid inside the office until I couldn’t hear the engines anymore.”

“Interesting.” I could hear Eton scratching his beard in thought - in fact I was sure we all did. It was a habit of his. “And this was two days ago?”

“Yep. Only reason I was able to raid on a weekday was cuz our office - actually, make that our entire district - was still closed.” Silence.

A chime came from the game; Roxxi had chatted again.

R. Pavisi: ⌜South Afland’s border with Zulu is pretty big. You guys think they have force along its entirety?⌟

“Good question. Give me a sec,” I said.

There was silence as I did some quick research.

South Afland Border Secured.

Zulu Special Forces Spotted Near Southern Border with South Afland.

⌜The coast is full of empty ships. It’s strange. Hunks of metal just floating out there, and neither the SOM nor the ZSF are doing anything about them.⌟

I copied the links and shared it with my friends.

“Thanks, Blaze,” said Eton. More silence as they read through the articles and forum posts. I kept searching, but aside from those three, there was nothing else. They must have a heck of a security protocol in place if they stayed online despite South Afland’s best efforts.

Finally, I spoke up. “I guess that’s enough for tonight?” I tabbed back in and was unsurprised to see Ice sitting next to me under the tree.

“...yeah, I think so,” Wif replied. “A little worried about my city now. I might not be online for a few days. Roxxi will update you guys if anything happens.”

R. Pavisi: ⌜Don’t worry too much guys, I’ll make sure she stays safe and sane. As best as I can anyway.⌟

“You two will be fine!” I said confidently.

“Yeah, didn’t Blaze send that tracking thing to you two a few months back?” said Ice.

R. Pavisi: ⌜Yeah, and it’s pretty cool. Thanks for that again, by the way. ⌟

“No problem, Roxxi.”

“Thanks for lending an ear, you guys. Really appreciate it. Didn’t have anyone to share this stuff with until today.”

“Well, not gonna lie, I’m a little spooked. As if the War wasn’t bad enough already. Damn Federation,” grumbled Exe.

“Shit, I’m from the Federation and I think they’re idiots too,” Eton agreed.

“Hmhm.”

“Well, given I’m alone here in the guild house I’m assuming you two wizards are hanging by the tree again,” said Eton.

“Excuse me, I’m a Warlock,” Ice said in an irritated tone.

“Heh. Well, enjoy you two. And stay safe out there. In the real world, I mean. And Blaze - thanks for the initiative, and the info.”

I could practically see Ice smirk. “Still don’t think you should be the guild lead?”

Yeah, right - me and leading went together about as well as oil and water. Ice has been bringing up the topic for months now - ever since I joined the guild, actually.

“When are you gonna stop suggesting that?” I asked, exasperated at being told the same thing for the umpteenth time.

“Hey, it’s not just my idea. You know Eton’s been wanting to pass lead to you for a while now.”

“I’m a strategist at best, Ice, not even one to take the spotlight.”

“And you do a hell of a job! You even realize how many clears you’ve helped us out on?”

“Using info collected from other sources. I discovered nothing, I’m just a compiler… person.”

“You mean the guy that makes sense out of information that would otherwise make no sense for us. Do you even know what you can do with that talent?”

I stayed silent. Her character was looking at mine directly, its deep blue eyes trying to pierce through my digital soul. She sighed in obvious irritation. She always did, whenever I denied her claims. But she’d been pestering me for years about it and I doubted it was stopping any time soon.

“You should appreciate your own skills more,” she said, her voice softer than normal. “We’re both aware you have the talent, you just refuse to accept it. People never really stop growing. Never stop changing.”

I gulped down some water before replying. “Not all change is for the better, you know? Besides, I’m fine with what I do.”

“Were you always?”

And with that...